King of the Pecos

John Wayne reprises many a role from his past as the man whom, as young boy, witnessed the murder of his parents. This time, it's the cattle baron "Stiles" (Cy Kendall) on whom he is fixated for revenge. He is now, though, a lawyer and so has decided to legitimately dismantle the extensive empire of his nemesis who would rather own the law than adhere to it. Initially dismissive of the young man's efforts, it's soon clear that In so doing he is risking life and limb, as well as those of the gal "Belle" (Muriel Evans). Nothing at all new here, just another 60 minute B-feature, but the Duke is on good form and Kendall makes for quite an effective, odious baddie. Joseph Kane keeps the pace hot, and there are plenty of brawls and galloping chases to keep it interesting, if hardly, challenging.

I wonder why this movie has a low rating? Of course with only 15 folks voting on it, there may be some bias. I found it funny, action filled, and not as cliche as most films from the thirties. I love the charismatic and tough, cocky, self assured character's Wayne played in the thirties, before becoming a bruting middle aged man. I say check this one out, it is worth it. Stiles as the bad guy is perfect. You really end up cheering for "The King of the Pecos", too take the bad guys down. 6/10

An American Western; A story set in the 1870s in Pecos River country, Texas, about a criminal lawyer from Austin who witnessed his parents murdered by a land developer when he was a child. When a judge won't find the powerful developer guilty of another crime ten years later, the lawyer resorts to other methods of retaliation. This film has a morality theme about the strong and rich exerting their power over the weak have-nots and the rough justice it inevitably invites. Cy Kendall gives the most effective performance as a the mean, stern, ruthless developer who meets his match in John Wayne's hero. Arthur Aylsworth and Herbert Haywood provide some light comedy relief but it wears a little thin midway through. This routine short feature has a fairly uninvolving love interest too but otherwise it has an interesting revenge plot and has some good shootouts throughout the hot pace.

When John Clayborn (John Wayne) was a child, he witnessed his parents being murdered by Alexander Stiles (Cy Kendall), the developer who wanted control over their land. Clayborn has grown up with one goal -- to get revenge on Stiles. He becomes a lawyer, but, when the judge won't find Stiles guilty, Clayborn resorts to other methods of retaliation. He enlists other men who have been wronged by Stiles and together they take their guns and embark on a mission to hunt him down.

John Wayne as a level-headed lawyer who wants revenge makes "King of the Pecos" entertaining,plus the plot is quite involving with some shoot em up touches and good landscape. Definitely a better Wayne early western.

Iconic director Joseph Kane shows here why he is rated so highly by western and film aficionados. Republic (I like the sound of that word) and Kane and John Wayne are simply unbeatable.

In addition to a superlative story by Bernard McConville, an excellent cast and beautiful scenery create a nearly perfect western.

One bonus is the lovely Muriel Evans, one of the, in fact, loveliest heroines of B westerns in Republic's history. She showed, besides looks, a lot more personality than most of the B heroines.

When Turner Classic Movies showed, on 20 August 2015, a marathon of Mae Clarke movies, one of Ms. Clarke's premier performances came in a little-known film titled "Fast Workers." Muriel Evans had one scene, as a nurse, in which she mostly looked on, then had a few lines.

And in that small part, she didn't quite steal the movie, but sure did make an impression, with a fascinating performance.

She shows even more personality here, in "King of the Pecos," a fairly routine western, perhaps, but with such a sterling cast and superb directing and scenery that can and should make you want to pack your bags. Watch her in scenes where she might be only entering or leaving and you can't help admiring her presence and control.

She has an expressive face and eyes that enthrall.

John Wayne stands tall, demonstrates his personality that led him to be Hollywood's biggest star of all time, but isn't really stretched as an actor.

He is aided by two unknown but immensely talented character actors, playing "Josh" and "Hank," who do generally steal every scene they're in. And praise be, their humor is not the usual silly stuff so often found in B westerns.

The three chief bad guys are among the best in Hollywood history, Cy Kendall, Yakima Canutt, and Jack Clifford, of whom I blush to admit I know almost nothing -- except he is GREAT in this role.

There are several versions of "King of the Pecos" at YouTube and I picked the longest one. Don't you make that mistake. It's longer because whoever posted it tacked on several minutes of the ending twice.

It's a beautiful print, in brightness and contrast, but there are some strange technical glitches that cause the background to wave and wobble.

Still, the extraordinarily high quality of the production makes such stuff irrelevant. I highly recommend "King of the Pecos."